Many legislative issues affect Baxter's business – reimbursement, tax, trade and a variety of regulatory concerns. Baxter's Government Affairs and Public Policy (GAPP) teams work with lawmakers, governments and policymakers around the globe to support patient access to Baxter's life-saving therapies, increase understanding of the benefits of those therapies, address barriers to care and explore possible solutions. This includes working directly with governments to improve the regulatory environment and reimbursement structure for Baxter's therapies, and collaborating with clinicians, non-governmental organizations and patient groups on other coordinated efforts to increase access to care for millions of patients around the world.
The Public Policy Committee of Baxter’s board of directors oversees Baxter’s government affairs activities. The committee reviews and makes recommendations on Baxter’s actions with respect to political contributions, positions on pending legislative and other initiatives, and political advocacy. For additional information on Baxter’s government affairs activities, please refer to Baxter’s 2008 Political Contributions Report. This report includes details about the specific contributions made by Baxter and Baxter’s Political Action Committee, BAXPAC, in 2008 as well as information about Baxter’s membership in certain trade and industry groups.
In 2008, the U.S. Congress passed Medicare legislation that is expected to result in more patients being offered home dialysis as an alternative to in-center dialysis for treatment of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Baxter’s U.S. GAPP team helped raise awareness in Congress of the potential economic benefits of home dialysis, as well as the benefits of pre-ESRD education for late-stage chronic kidney disease patients. One provision of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008, effective January 1, 2010, provides reimbursement for pre-ESRD education. Pre-ESRD education can help patients slow the progression of the disease and choose the treatment best suited to their needs. Studies have shown that given unbiased, objective education on treatment options, about half of all patients would choose home therapy. The legislation also reduces economic incentives that have historically favored the prescription of in-center hemodialysis over home-based peritoneal dialysis (PD), which have contributed to U.S. PD penetration being among the lowest in the world as a portion of total dialysis treatment.
In developing countries, many hospital-acquired bloodstream infections are caused by the use of “open” versus “closed” intravenous (IV) systems. Open systems are IV systems in which outside air comes in contact with the IV fluid during administration, while closed systems are fully sealed and remain sterile during administration. Baxter, which introduced the first closed, flexible IV container system in 1970, works with governments and healthcare providers in a number of these countries to help conduct studies, set standards and implement conversion to closed IV systems. In Brazil, for example, the government passed legislation requiring all of the country’s nearly 8,000 hospitals to convert to closed-system IV systems by March 2009. Leading up to this legislation, Baxter worked with healthcare professionals and regulatory authorities to review evidence on the benefits of closed systems and establish quality standards for the manufacture of closed systems in Brazil.
In China, the government was seeking to determine a viable pricing and reimbursement strategy for biologics such as recombinant and plasma-based proteins to ensure a sustainable supply of these critical therapies to patients. Specifically, it sought information on reimbursement and pricing policies in other countries as well as key aspects of the development and production process for such products. Baxter joined forces with industry groups such as the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) in the United States, BIOTECanada and others to facilitate an information exchange with Chinese academic and government officials. This included a BIO-sponsored seminar in Washington DC, where key opinion leaders, pricing authorities and other industry representatives shared information with Chinese university and government officials, and tours of research-and-development and manufacturing facilities that produce these kinds of therapies, including Baxter operations in southern California. The project aims to result in a report and policy recommendations for the Chinese government by year-end 2009.
Baxter and its employees also lend their voice to discussion of industry issues that affect Baxter and its customers through membership in many professional, industry and business organizations, covering a variety of geographic areas, diseases, markets and topics.
